Sore hocks, different rabbit

[LittlePuffyTail]

It’s Olivia this time. I check her hocks like 3 x a week because she does have callouses there. The last couple of days they were getting worse so I tried fixing up her bed to make it softer, putting more hay in her cage, etc. They look really bad today. All puffy and red/purple colour. I’m going to put some of Bindi’s sore hock cream on her tonight. I also went to the pet store tonight and bought her a “Snoozy Sleeper” pad. It’s a faux fur pad made for dog crates and I put this in her bed on top of her baby blankets. I hope she leaves it in there and it helps. Right now she’s not impressed with it and is sleeping on top of her cardboard house. Ewww…something new that doesn’t smell like me…Also I couldn’t get it in pink, maybe that’s why she’s not happy. Doesn’t match her decor.

Bindi’s hocks are weird lately. They flare up, I treat them a day or two, and then they get normal again. I don’t worry about putting the cream on his feet because he’s not a big washer but Olivia is obsessive with cleaning herself and I will really have to watch her to make sure she doesn’t lick it off. It’s a corticosteroid and the only thing my vet reccomends and it always seems to work well for Bindi. I just put a tiny bit on but I worry because I know it’s not good for rabbits if they lick it.

Good feet healing vibes please!!! I’m making her a new cage tommorow and hopefully I can arrange things to make her house softer for her.

[Michelle&Lolli]

They make a sore hock cream? Where I can find it? lol Well…then I finished reading your post about how it’s not good for them to ingest. So nevermind. LOL Lolli’s a big cleaner and she’d lick it off as soon as I put her down.

Healing vibes!!! And good decorating vibes!!!! lol

[BinkyBunny]

Sending healing vibes!! How are their nails? Could they be getting too long and causing pressure?? I can always tell when I have skipped a month now, no sore hock issues, but because Jack because has arthritis in his front paw, it hurts more as he has to lean more on the joint as his nails get longer, and I will see him put his front paw on his back paw more when he sits up. So, what I am saying is that for some bunnies, regular nail trims may be much more important for them if they have issues like sore hocks and arthritis.

[LittlePuffyTail]

The nails are never an issue, I have all the buns on a nail trimming rotation and they never get very long before I clip them. Olivia seems to be enjoying her plush bed today so hopefully that will help. I also put tea bags on the sore hocks as it helps to harden the calluses which is what I want!

[jerseygirl]

I saw a bright pink pet bed yesterday that was shaped like a crown.  I immediately thought of Princess Olivia!

I thought I’d repost something Osprey commented on earlier this year.

osprey Los Altos, California Posts: 2049

05/25/2010 02:17 PM Quote Reply Alert Our Deanna developed these pink sores on her hocks a few months ago out of the blue. They were bad enough that Deanna was actually limping from them. We were visiting Dr. Harvey for something else and I asked her what to do about the sores. She suggested using Vitamin E oil. Deanna is much much better now. Rugs seemed to be the culprit in out case, she is never on wire and hates hardwood floors. I replaced some of the rugs in the buns’ condo with straw mats, this seemed to help too.   https://binkybunny.com/FORUM/tabid/54/aff/1/aft/110414/afv/topic/Default.aspx

 If you suspect any of the surfaces she lives on, maybe try these mats of even some cushioned vinyl. I imagine some rugs, fabrics, towels etc can actually cause some friction when buns turn around on them.

[LittlePuffyTail]

hmmm.. I may try that. Vitamin E Oil. Thanks Jerseygirl. There is so much conflicting advice on what to put on their hocks and it’s hard to know which to try. I read in several places Preparation H and Zinc Oxide but my vet said zinc is quite dangerous for buns. If the vet’s cream doesn’t show improvements in a few days I will try something else. Right now I’m doing tea compress in a.m. and cream at p.m. then I let her run for an hour so I can watch to make sure she doesn’t lick it off. This routine has always helped Bindi whom I may need to start again since his hocks look a little red lately. A full time job, these little hoppers are!!! Not to mention I had to put Stormy on eye drops because his eyes are all irritated and red. Low maintenance. Yup uhuh.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Poor little girl. I just checked her feet and one of them seems really sore. It’s so upsetting that my rabbits get these at all considering the plush lifestyle they live. I overflowed her cage with soft hay so hopefully that will help.

[GrumpyBun]

Sending foot healing vibes! Hope the hay helps.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Olivia’s feet have gotten worse. The left one is all cracked open and really sore for her. I read that Bag Balm can do wonders so I have been cleaning it and then putting that on 2x day. It doesn’t look infected, just sore. Poor little thing. If it’s no better by Monday we will go to the vet.

[Free2Dream]

I was going to suggest Bag Balm. A friend of mine’s horse’s ran through a barbed wire fence a few years ago and her face got wrecked with deep scratches. She put the bag balm on them and it really helped with the pain and reduced the appearance of the scars once she finally healed. Some hair actually managed to grow back.

Good luck. Poor Olivia. We just got a Rex and I noticed little sores developing on her hocks the other day. Hopefully they won’t get worse.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Well Miss Princess has an appointment to see the vet tomorrow night. The Bag Balm doesn’t seem to be helping either. She has a fit when I touch the left foot, I know it must be really sore. She’s fine hopping though, even doing some crazy binkies. Best to get it checked out to see if there is something else I can do for her and to make sure there is no infection.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Just got back from the vet with a very stressed out Princess. The vet didn’t like the look of the left foot so she put her on Baytril for 7 days just in case. I don’t put any cream on her feet while she’s on the meds and then she goes back for re-check in 7 days to check for infection under a scope. If there is certain to be no infection the vet said we will try Derma Gel to create a coating on her feet. So Olivia will be glad for me not messing with her feet but will be angry about the medicine. Although they made it Banana Bread flavour. Here’s hoping her foot is infection free next appointment.

On the positive side, my vet always takes pics of new patients for their file and she looked absolutely gorgeous in her profile pic! But then again, she always looks gorgeous.

[jerseygirl]

The Derma Gel sounds interesting. How do you keep it applied though?

I remembered the Baleful Regards (I think it was!) had used liquid bandage on Coco when she started to develop some patches and it worked well.
There seems to be this type of thing developed for pets now though how rabbit safe they are is the question. Some of them are just glorified superglue really.   I was also reading about products used for horses such as Dy’s Liquid Bandage. Have you heard of that before?

[LittlePuffyTail]

I’ve heard of that but never used it or even seen the product. Derma Gel is actually made for horses but it can be used for all animals as it is non-toxic. My vet said you just put it on, rub it to a thin layer and let it dry. I’m not sure how often it needs to be reapplied, I will have to wait and see. I’m actually going to put some on Bindi’s feet tonight as his hocks are in the middle of a flare up.

I think Baleful Regards used New Skin Liquid Bandage. I had read this works well and bought some but talked to my vet before using it and she ordered me some Derma Gel. She assumes it has the same affect as New Skin. She is wary of using anything not made for animals because rabbits will lick the area and some human products have scary ingredients.

I have to call the vet this morning as she told me about a scrub I could use to keep her feet clean at our appointment yesterday and I don’t recall what it was.

[jerseygirl]

Might be something like chlorhexidine, it’s like a surgical scrub. Your vet sounds good. :o)

[LittlePuffyTail]

Yup, your right, that’s what she gave me. My vet is absolutely wonderful! I’m actually in the process of making her a Christmas gift, I just think the world of her. Of course the gift is rabbit related I’m gonna post pics of it when I’m done.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Still working on treating Olivia’s feet. I wash her feet twice a day and give her meds twice a day. She’s very mad at me. When I let her out for run time, she totally ignores me! Can’t wait till I can stop “bugging” her.

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